West St. John's Jaylyn Gordon and Lester Smith win Small School Player, Coach of the Year Awards

All Metro basketball players and coach for small schools, from left: Newman's Duke Douglas, and West St. John's Jaylyn Gordon and coach Lester Smith. (Dinah Rogers, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Veteran West St. John Head Coach Lester Smith and unquestionably the best player in West St. John school history -- senior guard Jaylyn Gordon -- have been voted NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune’s All-Metro Girls Basketball Small School Coach of the Year and Player of the Year, respectively.

Gordon, who this season added a consistent three-point shot to her already dynamic repertoire, will graduate as the leading scorer in school history with a career average of 22.9.

After knocking off top-seeded Central Catholic and advancing all the way to the semifinals as a No. 8 seed last year, this year Gordon’s Rams surged to their first Class 1A state title game, a heartbreaking 54-52 loss to Vermilion Catholic in which Gordon scored 30.

West St. John only lost once in the regular season, to Class 4A superpower Warren Easton; in the playoffs, Gordon found an extra gear, averaging almost 30 points per game.

“She’s really set the bar for this program,” Smith said of his explosive guard, who will play for UL-Lafayette next year.

“Her athletic ability and knowledge of the game is far ahead of anyone I’ve ever coached at West St. John.”

Both Gordon and Smith agreed that she had developed from a pure athlete in her early days into a mature, almost coachlike presence on the court.

Gordon said she was excited about earning a scholarship and playing in college, but also a little sad to see her decorated West St. John career career come to an end.

“It’s bittersweet,” she said. “I get to go play in college, but I’m not ready to leave high school.”

But Gordon will leave behind a significant legacy, both in the form of her freshman cousin Maya Trench, who Gordon repeatedly said she expects to become a better player than her, and in making West St. John basketball a Class 1A powerhouse and something of an area phenomenon in Edgard.

“We had a big community party (last week), and everyone came out. We lost, but it was like we didn’t. We didn’t get the ring, but we got everything else,” Gordon said.

Smith echoed Gordon, saying that the outpouring of community goodwill made up for falling one game short.

“I was proud, and I think the community stood by them,” he said. “I know the kids wanted it, but we still had a great season.”

Gordon said watching the televised replay of the championship game on FOX Sports New Orleans earlier in the week helped ease the pain of the tough loss.

“It don’t hurt no more; it’s okay,” she said. “We balled out, we had a great season. I couldn’t ask for better, just the ring.”

Smith’s 27th season as the Rams head coach was his most successful. He said part of the success is knowing and understanding his players as people. He said he considers Gordon “almost like a daughter.”

Smith said he’s appreciative of winning the Coach of the Year award, but was also cognizant that it may not have happened without the collection of players spearheaded by Gordon and Trench that he called the most athletic his program had ever assembled.

“The award really comes from them to me,” he said. “All I’ve really wanted to do is coach girls basketball.”

Gordon chided Smith, reminding him that he told her four years ago that he planned to retire after she graduated, but Smith gave every indication that he has plenty left in the tank to compete for another state title.

"That was four years ago," he said with a raised eyebrow.

“I guess back then he didn’t know this would happen,” Gordon said with a smile.